A 36-year-old man who had raped a 16-year-old girl repeatedly and impregnated her was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

The man appeared in the Louis Trichardt Regional Court on Wednesday on single counts of rape and incest. He was arrested in June last year when the girl’s mother notified the Makhado SAPS. At the time, the family lived with the man on a farm outside of Louis Trichardt.

It was first believed that the girl was the man’s biological daughter. During the trial, the mother testified that the man was in fact the girl’s stepfather. The state was unable to produce evidence to the contrary. As a result, the charge of incest was dropped against the man.

The man would rape the girl when all the other family members were away at work or school. According to evidence brought before the court, the man was extremely violent and threatened to kill the mother is she dared to tell anybody else about the rape incidents. This situation continued for more than a year, until the girl fell pregnant.

When the police’s Child Protection Unit was notified, the girl was informed that she had the right to get an abortion. DNA tests revealed that the man was the father of the girl’s unborn child.

After sentencing the man, Magistrate Pat Cloete remarked that the man was his own worst enemy and expressed the hope that the man would use his time in prison to get control over his emotions because it was clear from his actions that he was extremely aggressive.